


After the Cassettes

by graytheglowinggay



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: (because that's the only kind of angst that I can write), Angst with a Happy Ending, Autistic Carlos, Autistic Cecil, Carlos is a Good Boyfriend, Cecil is Mostly Human, Episode 33 (Cassette), Episode Related, M/M, Moving Eldritch Tattoos, Shapeshifter Cecil, Tattooed Cecil, because I totally headcanon those two as autistic, but he has trouble controlling it, shapeshifter!cecil, shapeshifting a la Mystique
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8612248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graytheglowinggay/pseuds/graytheglowinggay
Summary: “Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight.”
As soon as Carlos heard the final words of the broadcast, he felt a single tear fall down his cheek. 'Cecil', he thought. 'Cecil, baby, what happened to you?'
What happened to Cecil after "Cassette"? What happened to Carlos? Find out!





	

“Goodnight, Night Vale. Goodnight.”

As soon as Carlos heard the final words of the broadcast, he felt a single tear fall down his cheek. _Cecil_ , he thought. _Cecil, baby, what happened to you?_

Carlos knew that he had to find him. He was probably still at the radio station, numb and lost like he sometimes was. He couldn’t show emotion on the radio, of course. He had to maintain the comforting facade of the unfettered journalist, but at home… He didn’t know how to let it out. He would try to use his words, but those words would always fall useless to the floor, like birds without wings. He would cry. He would produce low wails; emotion without the civilizing focus of words. His energy and charisma was suddenly gone, replaced by an inward melancholy that he would only retreat further and further into.

Carlos hastily stuffed his science equipment into his bag, only paying a minimal amount of attention to make sure that nothing got crushed, and he ran out of the lab. He continued to run all the way across town to the radio station. He didn’t know where he found the energy. He just knew that he had to find Cecil.

Carlos was able to get into the radio station using his “plus one” pass that Cecil had gifted to him when their relationship had gotten more committed, which granted him access to Cecil’s booth in case of an emergency. As soon as Carlos was nearing Cecil’s booth, he felt thousands of tiny pinpricks on his skin, and the air around him felt thick and opaque. Carlos almost couldn’t see when he finally reached the door to the booth, and when he entered, he saw what he had feared that he would see.

Cecil was kneeling on the ground, surrounded by a swirling cloud of gray-black smoke. Dark purple lines whizzed around him like so many shooting stars. Having heard Carlos open the door, he whipped his head around to see Carlos, and countless glowing eyes were floating around his head and face. Now that Cecil was facing him, Carlos got a clearer view of him.

His skin would flicker different colors; some human, some inhuman. The runic marks that covered his skin were moving around fast and frantic, sometimes forming coherent shapes, mostly just looking like scribbles on his skin. His eyes were solid white, which was the only constant thing about him.

“Cecil!” Carlos cried. As soon as Cecil heard his name, the cloud suddenly vanished. The glowing eyes closed one by one, until it was just Cecil, still shifting, but starting to settle.

“C-Carlos?” he asked, his eyes wide with confusion and wonder.

“Cecil. It’s me.” Carlos replied, crying. He slowly moved towards Cecil, sitting on the ground with him. “Can I-- can I touch you?”

“Yes.” he replied. Carlos quickly pulled him into a hug. “Carlos, I can’t control it.” He started to cry.

Carlos slowly unwrapped his arms from around his boyfriend, and took Cecil’s hands into his own. “Cecil, you are _you_. Your physical appearance doesn’t matter, it’s what’s inside of you that determines who you are. And Cecil? I still love you no matter what you look like.”

Cecil's eyes returned to normal (today the irises were indigo), and his skin began to settle into a more slow, steady change, like the smooth waves on the surface of a lake. The two of them stood up together.

“Even if I look like Steve Carlsberg?” Cecil asked, laughing.

“If you look like Steve, then we’ll talk.” Carlos replied.

The two of them walked out of the radio station, arm in arm, hand in hand. They walked back to their apartment, together. They ate dinner, together. They laughed. They talked. They kissed. Later that night, they went to bed together, bodies entwined, both of them at peace and at home.

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of partially wrote this just to show off my headcanon Cecil, but I also wanted to write something about Cassette too. Hence, this was created. If you have any questions about my headcanon, please don't hesitate to leave a comment with your question(s), and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading!


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